Some of the most crucial questions left unanswered about Benghazi are, in fact, the simplest. They are not "fog of war" questions. They are not questions rendered unanswerable by "conflicting intelligence." They are questions that probe clear actions taking place not on the roof of a safe house under mortar fire, but inside the fortresslike, orderly and well-lit White House.

Imagine, pre-9/11/12, that you were responsible for arranging the defense of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Would you have considered American interests and personnel best protected by bringing in a local security outfit called the February 17 Martyrs Brigade?

Back in 2008, during the peak illusory powers of Barack Obama as the post-partisan hopester-and-changer, the media consistently failed to report that the statist beliefs of the Democratic presidential nominee came straight from the socialist playbook. In many cases, the media probably didn't realize it themselves.

First, kudos to Mitt Romney for choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate. Now, the danger: Romney, Ryan, their surrogates, their supporters and the American people will continue to treat Election 2012 as just another contest to determine whose hand is at the helm of state for the next four years.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the handful of House Republicans, led by Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who sent letters in June to inspectors general at five government departments, asking them to investigate evidence of Muslim Brotherhood influence on U.S. government policymaking. The Muslim Brotherhood is a global Islamic movement engaged, according to the group's own internal document, on a "grand jihad" in North America to destroy "Western civilization from within." To date, the inspectors general haven't responded.

Be alarmed: The U.S. government continues to be "advised by organizations and individuals that the U.S. government itself has identified in federal courts as fronts for the international Muslim Brotherhood."

Does "character" count? How about the more archaic notion of "reputation"? Not in the Obama administration, now standing tall behind what in Washington parlance is called the "troubled" nomination of Brett McGurk to be U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Does "character" count? How about the more archaic notion of "reputation"? Not in the Obama administration, now standing tall behind what in Washington parlance is called the "troubled" nomination of Brett McGurk to be U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Back in 2001, Britain's political parties signed a fantastic pledge. They agreed to say nothing to "stir up racial or religious hatred, or lead to prejudice on grounds of race, nationality or religion."